Ubbi vs. Diaper Genie vs. Pure Pail: My *Honest* Review

You’re busy checking each of the items off your newborn essentials list, and reviewing each piece of baby gear that you add to your registry.

You’ve already chosen between a baby swing and bouncer (or opted for both), compared the Dock-A-Tot vs. Snuggle Me Organic, and maybe even discovered a few of these affordable Baby Bjorn dupes.

Next up – diaper pails.

It’s a face-off: the Ubbi vs. Diaper Genie vs. Pure Pail.

Is the Ubbi worth it?

The Diaper Genie’s everywhere. That must mean something, right?

And what the heck is a Pure Pail?

A new mom with a whole lotta dirty diapers, I’ve purchased and tested each of them, so that you don’t have to.

Here’s how it went –

The Ubbi Diaper Pail

The Ubbi diaper pail is a newer addition to the diaper pail scene.

Dubbed a modern take on the somewhat antiquated Diaper Genie, the Ubbi diaper pail is apparently a revolutionary, must-have item.

But, is it really all it’s cracked up to be?

Let’s take a look –

How Does the Ubbi Diaper Pail Work?

Overall, the Ubbi is a simple diaper pail that’s easy to use.

Its major selling feature is its steel construction, which is said to eliminate odours from dirty diapers.

Instead of the flip-open top that is common with other diaper pails, the Ubbi’s lid slides backwards, which is said to prevent the stirring up and releasing of not-so-fresh air inside the diaper pail.

It’s also lined with a snug rubber seal around the opening, which is meant to help keep it airtight.

Well, at least those were all of the intentions of the product.

But, unfortunately, we just found the Ubbi to fall a little short on those promises.

Overall, we didn’t find it to be exceptionally stink-free, or really even much better, than either the Diaper Genie or the Pure Pail.

While my husband and I did notice that when sealed, you really don’t smell much of anything in the nursery, as soon as you open the Ubbi, the smell undoubtedly escapes… and with a vengeance.

Ubbi Diaper Pail Review

Lastly, I personally just didn’t find it ergonomic or comfortable to use.

I felt it had a little too low of a profile and found I really had to lean over and away from our changing pad to trash the diapers.

Besides having to reach, the sliding door wasn’t all that smooth, and I much preferred the simple push to open lid on the Pure Pail.

What I do like, however, about the Ubbi diaper pail, is that though they make their own brand of liner bags, the design of the Ubbi allows you to use any type of garbage bag. The Pure Pail also offers this flexibility; whereas with the Diaper Genie does not.

With a price tag almost double that of my final pick, the Pure Pail, I just personally wouldn’t recommend doling out the extra cash for the Ubbi.

More of a skimmer?

Here’s a recap of the pros and cons of the Ubbi diaper pail:

Ubbi Diaper Pail – Pros

• Made of metal – One of the most unique features of the Ubbi is that it is one of the only diaper pails that are made from metal, instead of plastic. Because steel isn’t porous, its said to not hold on to odours like plastic does.
• Engineered seal – The Ubbi diaper pail also includes a rubber seal to keep that stink contained; a feature that neither the Diaper Genie or Pure Pail include.
• No special bags required – The last unique feature about the Ubbi is that it doesn’t require its own particular bags, which saves parents both time and money.

Ubbi Diaper Pail – Cons

• The door sticks  – The door of the Ubbi diaper pail slides straight back, and has rubber lining the seal, which often makes the door harder to close.
• Size – The Ubbi diaper pail is noticeably shorter than both the Diaper Genie and Pure Pail, which I didn’t love, because it just wasn’t ergonomic. We don’t have a strap on our changing pad, so I keep a hand on my son while putting the dirty diaper into the diaper pail, and because of the Ubbi’s smaller size, I found I had to lean too far away from him to trash the diaper.
• Smelly – While its claim to fame is its superior steel construction, we just didn’t feel that this was effective enough in containing the smell. While both the Diaper Genie and Pure Pail both have something containing the smell, the Ubbi lacks any mechanism.
• Design – While the Ubbi diaper pail does come in a number of different colors and prints, I’m just not a fan of how it looks, and prefer the sleek lines of the Pure Pail.
• Price – One of the most expensive diaper pails on the market, the Ubbi will run you about $70.

The Diaper Genie Diaper Pail

To complete our Diaper Genie review, we purchased and tested the Diaper Genie Complete model.

Here’s how it went:

How Do Diaper Genies Work?

So, how, exactly does a Diaper Genie actually work? 

The Diaper Genie includes three basic mechanisms: a foot pedal that flips the lid open for hands-free diaper disposal, a self-sealing diaper chute that contains the stink, and a pop-open body that pulls forward, allowing you to change the bag as needed. 

As with many things, the system that the Diaper Genie uses to lock in odours has changed over time. 

While the older models of Diaper Genie used  to actually twist the bag after each dirty diaper was tossed, the newer models have departed from this system and instead have a one-way compartment that drops the diaper into the pail once the lid is back down, so the smell doesn’t escape. 

Diaper Genies also require a special type of proprietary bag that comes in a round, hollow cartridge — think Giant plastic lifesaver. (I’ll take pineapple, please.)

These cartridges sit inside the diaper pail and are cut into individual bags by the concealed bag cutter inside the Diaper Genie. 

Once the diaper bag is full, simply press the release button to get the front cover to pop forward so that you can remove and replace the dirty bag. 

Diaper Genie – Pros

• Hands-free – A convenient foot pedal allows you to trash dirty diapers easily, without having to try to open a door with a hand that’s got a dirty diaper in it (and it’s the only diaper pail out of the three I compared that has this feature)
• Size – The Diaper Genie is the tallest diaper pail out of the three models; taller than both the Ubbi and the Pure Pail. This means you don’t have to lean down as far to trash your dirty diaper, which both my husband and I really liked (new moms have plenty of reasons for an aching back, and we don’t need diaper changes to be yet another!).
• Price – At $47, the Diaper Genie comes in at a mid-range for price, though the cost of the refill bags can add up, especially if you’re on a tight budget.

Diaper Genie – Cons

• Needs special bags – The Diaper Genie requires its own special type of bags, which cost more than your typical trash bag, and can be tougher to find (not all stores carry them).
• Made of plastic – The Diaper Genie made of plastic, which is a porous material that can really hold a smell, though we didn’t find that it was particularly bad.
• Gets jammed – In the end, the reason why we passed on the Diaper Genie is that we found the chute to get jammed too often, which was super annoying and sometimes prevented us from even closing the lid.

Pure Pail Review

The Pure Pail is a much lesser-known diaper pail, but after comparing many of the different diaper pails on the market, it’s the diaper pail we ultimately ended up keeping. 

Out of all of the diaper pails, we prefer the Pure Pail because found it to contain the smell at least as well as the other models, like the simple design, found it ergonomic, and liked how it didn’t get jammed or stuck when were trying to throw away a diaper.

How Does the Pure Pail Work?

The Pure Pail is a sleek diaper pail with a one-tap pop-up lid that just requires a gently push to open.

While they do make their own trash bags which are reasonable priced, what’s really convenient about the Pure Pail is that you can also use regular tall trash bags if you choose.

In addition to the flexible choice in refill bags, the Pure pail is also tall enough and easy to use – both my husband and I found it to be a good fit for us, as well as ergonomic.

Lastly, the Pure Pail also includes a great little child lock feature, which has proven very handy as our little one has moved into toddlerhood, and loves exploring his nursery.

Here’s a look at our take on the pros and cons of the Pure Pail:

Pure Pail – Pros

• Design – The Pure Pail has a simple and minimalist design, and looks cute in our little guy’s nursery (well, as cute as a dirty diaper bin can).
• Price – At only $37, the Pure Pail is the least expensive diaper pail that we compared, and only half of the cost of the Ubbi steel diaper pail.
• Bags – While the Pure Pail does make their own brand of diaper bags that are made from 7 layers of plastic in order to help keep the stinky scents in, we really loved that the Pure Pail also allows you to use regular, tall trash can bags if you choose.

Pure Pail – Cons

• Have to push diapers through – While diapers are dropped into a chute with the Diaper Genie and Ubbi, you actually have to push the diapers through tight rubber seal with the Pure Pail. Though this feature was created in order to keep the stinky scent in, we found it a bit tough to push the diapers past it when we first started using it, which was a bit annoying.
• Made of plastic – The Pure Pail is made from plastic, which can definitely hold on to odours. However, we really didn’t find it any more stinky than any of the other bins.
• No foot pedal  – To open the Pure Pail, you have to press down on the lid, which isn’t as convenient as the Diaper Genie’s foot pedal. (But we liked it better than the Ubbi’s sliding door).

Ubbi vs. Diaper Genie vs. Pure Pail – TL;DR

After having purchased all three diaper pails – the Ubbi, Diaper Genie Complete, and Pure Pail, we started using the Diaper Genie because it was nice and tall, and includes a foot pedal, which we found to be the most convenient.

After a few months of using it, the diaper chute started to get jammed, so we had stinky diapers getting stuck in the top part of the Diaper Genie and it was a huge pain in the butt. Being limited to having to buy the specific (overpriced) bags that the Diaper Genie requires got old pretty quickly, too.

At the end of the day, though we started using the Diaper Genie and liked it because it felt the most ergonomic, the diaper chute started to get jammed and having to ensure we had their particular bags on hand all the time got annoying, so we swapped it out for the Pure Pail, and we’ve stuck with it ever since.

We like the simple, sleek design of the Pure Pail, the fact that you can use any type of trash bags to line it, and that nothing gets jammed or stuck while we’re using it.

What’s more is that the Pure Pail is also only half the price of the famed Ubbi diaper pail, and less than the Diaper Genie, too.

So, if you’re stuck trying to figure out which diaper pail you should shell out that hard-earned cash on, this mom’s recommendation is the Pure Pail. 

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